Jordan's Furniture sued over Red Sox promotion

If the Red Sox had swept the 2008 World Series, then a bunch of customers who bought furniture at Jordan's Furniture would have gotten it for free.

By Mike Melanson/Gatehouse News Service

MetroWest Daily News, Framingham, MA

By Mike Melanson/Gatehouse News Service

Posted Nov. 11, 2008 at 12:01 AM
Updated Nov 11, 2008 at 11:04 AM

By Mike Melanson/Gatehouse News Service

Posted Nov. 11, 2008 at 12:01 AM
Updated Nov 11, 2008 at 11:04 AM

» Social News

If the Red Sox had swept the 2008 World Series, then a bunch of customers who bought furniture at Jordan's Furniture would have gotten it for free.

But the Tampa Bay Rays, who defeated the Red Sox in seven games during this year's American League Championship Series, upset the Sox's world championship aspirations.

Now, a Salem lawyer representing Gisela Levin of Marblehead, who bought $4,600 worth of furniture as part of Jordan's Red Sox spring promotion, said she and other customers should get it for free anyway.

Attorney John Yasi is seeking class action status against the furniture retailer.

The suit is claiming breach of contract against the Taunton-based chain because the promotion, based on chance, violates a state law prohibiting promotional lotteries, Yasi alleges.

Promotions based on the chance of winning prizes offered by places such as McDonald's, Dunkin' Donuts and Burger King comply with the law because customers can participate in the promotion without having to buy anything, he said.

But the Jordan's promotion did not offer that option because people had to buy furniture to participate, Yasi said. In a prepared statement, Eliot Tatelman, CEO of Jordan's Furniture, said state and federal judges have already ruled in the furniture retailer's favor on the issue.

"At Jordan's, buying furniture is not a game of chance," Tatelman said, adding all customers pay the same "under prices" whether or not they participated in the promotion.

"Calling that a lottery is absolutely ridiculous," he said.

Jordan's Furniture has a store in Natick. Yasi said he is not sure how many consumers would be affected.

In 2007, Jordan's offered a similar promotion, and paid out about $20 million to $30 million to about 25,000 customers after the Red Sox won the World Series in a sweep, he said.

Yasi said the suit isn't about sour grapes, but about protecting people's rights under a law meant to protect consumers.